It's a food fight for a good cause when students and families from District 46 schools in Grayslake, Round Lake, Round Lake Beach, Round Lake Park, Third Lake, Lake Villa and Hainesville get together at hunger relief organization Feed My Starving Children in Libertyville.

At five two-hour packing sessions in March, staff, students and their families gather at stations to fill bags with rice, soy, vitamins and veggies, a nutritionally-complete meal designed to nourish starving children. The bags are packed into boxes, which are shipped to mission partners in 70 countries around the world. The partners use the meals to operate schools, orphanages, hospitals, ministries and feeding programs.

"We wanted to bring families in the District 46 community together while enlightening our children to the very real needs of those less fortunate," says Missy Vancil, secretary of Foundation46, which hosted the event. The not-for-profit educational foundation's mission is to enrich and enhance the students' educational experience.

More than 500 students and their family members have volunteered to pack meals, says District Superintendent Ellen Correll. "We're working together for a great cause. We know our students and their families will enjoy the experience."

At the first packing session, held on March 1, about 75 elementary and middle-school students and their families packed 37 boxes of food, which provides 22,200 meals to starving children. Packing events will continue until March 17; the school with the most participants will get "bragging rights," says Correll.

About Feed My Starving ChildrenA Christian non-profit founded in 1987, Feed My Starving Children tackles world hunger by sending volunteer-packed, nutritious meals to more than 70 countries, where they are used to operate orphanages, schools, clinics and feeding programs to break the cycle of poverty. Last year, FMSC welcomed nearly 800,000 volunteers to pack more than 191.6 million meals. The Minnesota-based charity spends 92% of total donations directly on feeding the hungry and has earned the highest four-star rating from Charity Navigator for 10 consecutive years.

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